


I can’t even notice it when you smile so hard through a heartfelt lie

by Shadowcrawler



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: 5+1 Things, F/F, Humor, Not Captain America: The Winter Soldier Compliant, Oblivious Ward, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-19
Updated: 2014-08-19
Packaged: 2018-02-13 19:44:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2162811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowcrawler/pseuds/Shadowcrawler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>5 times Grant Ward managed to completely miss that two of his teammates were dating (and the time he finally figured it out).</p>
            </blockquote>





	I can’t even notice it when you smile so hard through a heartfelt lie

**Author's Note:**

> Oh man, I dashed this off in a couple of class periods way back in March or something, before the Hydra Reveal, and then it sat around in a notebook for a while until I remembered it again. So for the purposes of this fic, let's just pretend that a) Ward is just a by-the-book slightly grumpy dude who's not very good at people and b) this takes place in a 'verse where everything is rainbows and joy and the girls wouldn't get in trouble for being in a relationship. It has nothing much to do with my canon-compliant series, which I am going to get back to ASAP, I promise.

i.

While on mission, Ward does his best to stay focused. He prides himself on his ability to filter out all of the excess noise and movements around him in order to do his job. His fellow recruits at the Academy used to tease him for his singlemindedness, but his superior officers had nothing but praise for him.

So, while he does notice the small details while he’s at work, he generally doesn’t dwell on them. He tends to pay even less attention to his teammates than his surroundings, unless they’re in some kind of danger or he’s on a mission with them. 

When he notices Simmons grab Skye’s hand while they’re still on the site of a bomb detonation (possibly caused by Centipede), he figures it’s just because she’s scared. She gets touchier when she’s nervous, and Skye’s almost hovering around her. This is a pretty unsettling scene, even for him, so he can’t blame her. Only May seems to be unfazed by the carnage around them, her expression unreadable as always.

ii.

A few days later, when they have some downtime, Coulson insists on a team bonding night, with drinks and a movie. May’s glare could probably have lit his head on fire, but Ward doesn’t mind the idea too much. Especially if there will be drinks.

He shows up at 8 PM exactly in the lounge, unsurprised that he’s the first (other than Coulson) to arrive. There’s an uneasy moment where they smile at each other and Ward thinks, for a moment, that maybe even the drink wouldn’t be enough to make up for this awkwardness. But then he hears loud laughter and Skye, Simmons and Fitz file in, the girls giggling at something Fitz said. May slips in at last, moving stiffly, like her body doesn’t want to be obeying her brain’s commands to move, but she alights on one of the chairs and settles in like a cat, pretending like it’s the most natural thing to be on the chair. Coulson smiles and passes out cups full of booze.

As Coulson gets up to put the DVD in, Ward glances around and notices that Skye and Simmons are basically melted together, Skye’s head resting on the other girl’s shoulder and Simmons running her hand through Skye’s hair. He’s never seen Skye be particularly affectionate with anyone, but he’s glad to see that she’s starting to trust someone that much. He takes a swig of his beer and allows himself to relax as the opening credits roll.

iii.

Upon finding a rare hour free, he decides to go see if Skye’s up for a quick sparring session. She’s not in her sleeping pod, so he heads toward the lounge area next to the Bus kitchen. Maybe she’s taking a nap in there. She seems to be able to sleep anywhere, no matter how uncomfortable the position – she’s basically a cat.

When he enters the kitchen, he hears weird noises coming from the lounge and pauses, then slips into star agent mode and continues on almost silently. It’s probably nothing, but years of training have programmed him to automatically react this way.

He sees two heads on the couch and lets himself relax, recognizing Simmons and Skye. Skye’s fiddling with something under her shirt, and she turns her head, grinning when she sees him. “Hey! ’Sup.”

“Hello!” chirps Simmons, smiling almost manically. “What brings you here, Agent Ward?”

“Ah…I had an hour free and I was wondering if Skye wanted to go down and spar for a bit.” Ward’s eyes can’t help but be drawn to where Skye’s messing with what he’s guessing is her bra, try as he might not to look. “Are you, uh, okay there?”

“Just adjusting my bra,” replies Skye nonchalantly, tugging one last time before extracting her hand from beneath her shirt. “Y’know, girly shit. It happens. But yeah, sure, let’s go! You okay with that, Jem—ah, Simmons?”

Simmons nods, still grinning. “That’s fine, Skye.”

She hops up, a spring in her step. “C’mon boss-man, you’re getting slow in your old age! Keep up!”

He rolls his eyes and follows her, not even noticing that her shirt’s top button is undone.

iv. 

He’s walking down the corridor on his way to a meeting with Coulson when he hears strange groans and thumping noises coming from the storage room a few hundred yards in front of him. He frowns, and strides over to knock on the door. All he can think of is that maybe FitzSimmons came down to get something and are rummaging around looking for it. When he knocks, a shrill voice says “Just a sec!”

After a very long moment, the door opens, and Skye pokes her head out. “Hey!” she says, sounding a bit breathless. “What’s up?”

“Everything, uh, all right? What are you even doing in there?”

Skye grins her lazy, easy grin and leans against the doorframe. “Oh, y’know…” She makes vague gestures with her hands.

“No?”

She blinks. “There’s really great wifi in there.”

“I heard some weird noises. You sure you’re okay?”

“Oh, yeah, sure. A box just fell on me, no big. I was cleaning it up. Papers everywhere. It was nuts.”

“Okay.” Ward nods. “You want help?” He starts to step into the closet.

“No, no, it’s fine!” says Skye, quickly moving to block him. “I got this, no worries.” 

“All right. I’ll, uh, leave you to it then.” Ward nods awkwardly and turns to leave. Skye gives him a cheery little wave goodbye before closing the door again.

v.

He’s awakened by a loud shriek that penetrates even his thick pod door.

Immediately he’s on his feet and running. The scream came from the general area of Skye’s pod, so he books it towards there. Before he knows it, he’s knocking frantically, brain running through the protocol for intruders.

Skye opens the door after a minute. She looks extremely disheveled, her hair mussed and her pajama shirt crooked, and wobbles a little, leaning on the door. “Hey. Uh, sorry about that. I had, uh, a nightmare.”

“Oh.” He’s relieved it was only that, but he feels a bit ridiculous running to her aid like this. “So you’re…okay then?”

“Yeah. Um, Jemma—Simmons is here, she came over earlier when I was having a hard time sleeping.” Skye jerks her head to indicate Simmons' presence inside. He hears her call out “Hi Ward!”

“Ah, good. Glad to hear it. Well…good night then.” He nods awkwardly and leaves.

+1.

It’s only a few weeks after that when, after he and Skye return from a mission, Jemma almost runs to meet them the second they set foot on the plane. Skye opens her arms, her smile bright as the sun, and Jemma runs into her. They kiss, and it’s definitely not just a friendly kiss.

Ward just barely manages to keep the shocked expression off his face. 

When the girls break apart, Skye looks over at him and giggles. “Surprise!” she says gleefully. “We were wondering how much it’d take for you to figure it out.” She and Jemma smirk at him, eyes bright.

He’s never been more grateful for his ability to keep a straight face regardless of his surroundings.


End file.
